Circular knitting machine



M y 1938; l. w. GROTHEY 2,117,245

CIRCULAR KNITTING MACHINE Filed June 2, 1927 4 Sheets-Sheet l I N V EN TOR.

IVAN w. GROTHEY MMJM May 10, 1938 w. GROTHEY CIRCULAR KNITTING MACHINE Filed June 2, 1927 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR. IVAN W. GROTHEY Q 7211sattorneys MaylO, .w GROTHEY 2,117,245

CIRCULAR KNITTING MACHINE Filed June 2, 1927 4 Sheets-Sheet 3 INVENTOR. IVAN W. GROTHEY 5 7123' afiurrzqya' May 10, 1938. 1. w. GROTHEY 2,117,245

CIRCULAR KNITTING MACHINE Filed June 2, 1927 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 Patented May 10, 1938 PATENT orrica CIRCULAR KNITTING MACHINE Ivan W. Grothey, Laconia, N. H., assignor to Scott & Williams, Incorporated, New York, N. Y., a corporation of Massachusetts Application June 2, 1927, Serial No.196,089

18,0laims. (o1. era-3s) The invention relates to mechanism for con trolling the knitting elements of circular knitting machines for obtaining designs, and more particularly the provision of pattern mechanism which is adapted to manipulate each element wholly independently of the others for this purpose. The mechanism can be adjusted in a simple and practical manner to produce any desired variations in manipulation of the knitting elements. While the invention will be shown and described producing float stitch designs and reverse plated designs by pushing selected needles radially outward at the throat plate, 1. e., controlling the needles in a direction at right angles to their knitting motion, it should be understood that the invention can be used for other manipulations of the knitting elements. As above indicated, the mechanism is capable of manipulating each needle wholly independently of the other needles and the mechanism can be adjusted in a simple and practical manner to produce any desired variations in the radial movements of the needles on successive courses. To accomplish this jack means are employed which move needles radially out of line a distance sufilcient to cause float stitches to be made or the plating to be reversed owing to the relative position of the needles, and a single vertically movable jack selector cam moving from one butt level to another assists in selecting the needles. This application is a continuation in part of my application Serial Number 105,805, filed April 30, 1926.

One of the principal ways of producing designs in knitted fabrics by manipulation of the needles has heretofore been by the use of a jacquard. It is one object of the invention to substitute for the jacquard a simple type of mechanism which, while it controls each needle wholly independently of all the others, is quickly and easily adjusted to give patterns of varied design. Another object of the invention is to make the pattern movements of the needles uniform and accurate. At the same time the mechanism is so constructed that it can be incorporated into the modern seamless hosiery machines without changing the other attachments ordinarily used.

These ends are achieved by means of certain individual jacks permanently associated with each needle, selecting the desired jack by one movable selector cam, and manipulating the selected needles at the proper time by a single stationary cam. The means for operating the single selector cam can be changed both as to the sequence, time, character and length of individual movements of the cam. The selector cam operating means can be actuated by-other pattern means which provide additional variation in the frequency of the pattern changes and consequently in the pattern. The mechanism has another advantage in that when making a pattern having an "out and back design, such for instance, as a diamond shape, only half the diamond needs to be set up in the machine. With all these advantages the mechanism also is adapted to cause its designing on either the whole circle of needles or part of the circle of needles when working on the instep, or on none of the needles when making the heel ortoe, etc., as required. In the specification and drawings the invention is shown embodied in the wellknown Scott 8: Williams type of revolving needle cylinder seamless'hosiery machine.

With regard to making reverse plated designs by means of this invention, it has heretofore been known to make stripes in plated fabrics by giving certain needles a permanent bend backward to such an extent that while the two yarns both come under the hooks of all the needles, they lie near the inside of the points of the hooks of the back bent needles. When the stitches are formed the'needles cause the yarn to assume relative positions on the back bent needles. In the case of the embodiment of the present-inventionillustrated in Figs. 2 to 6, the jack means press radially outward the needles on which reverse plating is not to occur. It is one of the objects of this invention to achieve this needle relation by means which will permit the needles on which the reversal occurs to be changed from course to course and thus produce a variety of designs.

. This plurality of designs is equally obtainable when using the invention for float stitch pattern- In the drawings:

Fig. 1 is a side elevation of part of a seamless hosiery machine with the cylinder raising tube partly broken away showing the novel pattern control mechanism for the needles;

Fig. 2 is a vertical section on an enlarged scale on line 2--2 of Fig. 5 through half of the needle cylinder showing the jack means which move the needles radially to make reverse plated designs;

Figs. 3 and 4 are sectional views similar to the upper part of Fig. 2 showing the positions of the needles and their deflectors and long jacks when making reverse plating on the instep and plain plated fabric on the sole, Fig. 3 showing the instep needle bent forward and Fig. 4 the needle which would have been bent forward if the reverse plating was to be made throughout the circumference of the stocking.

Fig. 5 is a, skeleton plan view of the needle cylinder and jack selector cam adjusted for the making of reverse plated designs, the circle of needles and jack means being divided into three parts, one part of the circle being shown at the level (1-41 of Fig. 2, another at the level b-b of Fig. 2 and another at the level cc;

Fig. 6 is an enlarged diagram of the heads of two needles, one being set back for the mak ing of a reverse plated stitch, showing the positions of the two yarns in the two needles before and after the two needles are drawn down;

Fig. 7 is a vertical section on the line 2-2 of Fig. -10 through half of the needle cylinder and associated'elements when making float stitches on the whole circle of needles;

"Figs. 8 and 9 are sectional views similar to the upper part of Fig; 7, showing the positions of the needles and their deflectors and long jacks when I f making float stitches on the instep of the stocking-only, Fig. 8 showing an instep needle and Fig. 9 a'needle'at another part of the circle;

Fig. 10 is a skeleton plan view of the needle cylinder and jack selector cam adjusted to make float stitch patterns, the circle of needles and jack means being divided into three parts, one

part of the circle being shown at the level M of Fig. .7, another at the level b--b and another atthe level -0; while Fig.1l is an elevation of the yarn fingers and the throat plate showing how the yarns are fed to the needles when making float stitch patterns.

The usual details of the needle cylinder are shown in Fig. 2, from which it will be observed that the needles N are independently movable in the tricks Edi of theneedle cylinder 261i, being held in those tricks by the spring band-s 262 as usual. The needle cylinder 2% is movable vertically with respect to the main head gear ring 30 to adjust the length of the stitch and for other purposes, by means of cylinder raising pins 258 which pass through the horizontal portion of the gear ring .iii and rest on, and rotate with respect to, a cylinder bearing ring 2b)? which rests on the top of the cylinder raising tube tilt. The needle cylinder is revolved by the main gear ring 3@ but can be adjusted vertically in unison with the cylinder raising tube by sliding on the vertical sleeve 25! of the gear ring dd. There is an inside sinker ring 2% fast in the upper end of the needle cylinder 2% which ring is slotted to receive the sinkers W as usual.

The novel pattern control mermanism for the needles includes skeleton jack cylinder E3 5 mounted below the needle cylinder 2% in which are mounted certain jacks adapted to operate on the needles N in a manner which will be described later. These jacks are positioned to be operated on by certain fixed cams when a vertically oscillating jack selector cam lllfi pushes their butts radially inward. The vertical movements of this jack selector cam are determined by a form of segmental Dawson or pattern wheel me. Other pattern means can be employed, if desired, in place of this pattern wheel. This pat tern wheel can be rotated or racked around in any desired manner but it is shown being racked around by mechanism which forms the subject matter of the U. S. patent to Robert W. Scott and Albert E. Page No. 1,713,353, dated May 14, 1929.

The novel jack means permanently associated with each needle include a horizontal deflector aliases Edi a long jack 132 and a pattern jack 136. Each horizontal deflector 13! consists of a thin blade sliding in a slot milled in the sinker ring about on a level with the lower arms of sinkers W. These deflectors are all at the same level and eachis radially behind the stem of a, needle. It is preferable to notch the deflectors and their slots to prevent the deflectors coming out through the inside of the sinker ring. There is a long jack F32 inside each deflector extending downward to the jack cylinder 134. The upper end of each long jack moves in a trick in the sinker ring and the lower end moves in the upper corner of one of the slots 135 of the jack cylinder 13. The jack cylinder is attached to the bottom of the gear ring 30. Inside the sinker ring and long jacks is the usual fabric tube 100 supported on a pin projecting inwardly from a cam Ml (Fig. 5) mounted on the cylinder raising tube 280. This pin lies in a slot on the fabric tube, thus permitting the latter to be raised or lowered but not rotated. The fabric tube serves to hold the long jacks in the tricks of the sinker ring 291 and the slots 135 of the jack cylinder. In the slots of the jack cylinder are pattern jacks 136 each having a pivotal connection with one of the long jacks 132, preferably by means of a butt 731 on the long jack inserting in a notch in the upper end of the pattern jack. Each pattern jack also has a butt 138 at its upper end projecting outwardly from-the jack cylinder and a designing butt 139 adapted to project outwardly from the skeleton cylinder at some point below the spring bands Hi0 which hold the pattern jacks in the jack cylinder. In Fig. 1 the designing butts l39are shown in solid black but the remainder of the pattern jacks are not indicated; and in Fig. 2 the difierent butt levels are shown in dotted lines. These pattern jacks are of such a depth that they can be pushed inwardly until the aforementioned designing butt 139 is flush with the skeleton cylinder before the inner edge of the pattern jack touches the fabric tube W0 which lies inside the jack cylinder of the gear sleeve 25L It will be observed that if the designing butt is pushed inwardly the pattern jack will pivot on its connection with its long jack, thus leaving the operating butt of the pattern jack extending beyond the skeleton cylinder. There are four stationary cams arranged near the skeleton cylinder which are designed to operate the needle when the designing butt of the corresponding pattern jack is pressed inwardly. When the designing butt I39 of one of the pattern jacks is pushed radially inward, i. e., depressed, the bottom edge of that pattern jack comes in the path of a stationary raising cam it! which is located inside the lower end of the jack cylinder about 180 in advance of the knit ting point (Fig. 5). This raising cam Ml lifts the pattern jack and its long jack to a position in which it can be caused to operate on the horizontal deflector 136 in a manner which will be described later. After the long jack has operated on the deflector, both the long jack and the pattern jack are ready to be returned to normal position. The position of the two jacks while operating on the deflector is shown in dotted lines in Fig. 2. The return movements are effected by means of a lowering cam I42. and a bevel cam l iii located at a point shortly after the completion of the knitting point, i. e., about.

the slots in that cylinder, and serves to push the pattern jack own, (see Fig. 2); For convenience the cams 4i, I42, I43 are all indicated in Fig. 2 though their circumferential positions are different from the section line on which the figure is taken. This lowering of the pattern jack in turn pulls down the long jack I32. Simultaneously, the bevel cam I43 which is inside the lower end of the jack cylinder at the same level as raising cam Ill pushes the lower endof the pattern jack outwardly till the designing butt is in position to be pushed radially inward again as desired.

For the purpose of actually pressing radially outward such needles as have been selected by the elements just described a radially and circumferentially stationary deflector cam I45 or I45 is flxed'to the top of the fabric tube I00. When making float stitch the cam will be directly in front of the float plate 559 and when making reverse plating it will be just opposite the knocking over point. To cooperate with this cam the long jack I32 is notched or stepped at its upper end on a level such that when the long jack is in its lower position the step I44 is just below the bottom.of the cam I45 or I45. However. when the long jack is raised to operative position by the cam I4l acting on the pattern jack, the step comes up to a level opposite the defiector cam I45 or I45, the upper end ofthe long jack rides outwardly on the cam surface and pushes the deflector I3l, and consequentlythe upper end of that needle N, outwardly. A glance at Fig. 6 will show that by pressing outwardly in this manner the-needles on which it is desired not to have the-plating reversed until the insides of their shanks lie just inside the point of the hooks of the other needles, the drawing down of the needles in the knitting 'wave will cause the yarns to appear in the fabric relatively reversed on'the needles which were not bent forward, i. e., those which are relatively set back. Thus the backing yarn g which will appear on the back of the fabric in the needle A is brought to the face of the fabric in the stitch'knit by needle '3 and the facing yarn 1,! becomes the backing will spring back to their regular positions immediately after the stitches have been formed. In making float stitch patterns in accordance with Figs. 10 and 11, certain needles are pressed outwardly in this manner until the yarn y" in one of the yarn fingers F is floated behind the pressed out needles and a float stitch on those needles results. The position of the yarn fingers F to cooperate with this positioning of the needles will be obvious. The deflector cam I45 is of such length that the pressed out needles will spring back to their original position immediately after the yarn to be floated is inserted, and all the needles will receive yarn 11 coming over the corner of the throat plate from the other yarn I finger. The situation in the case of reverse plating can be seen from Figs. 2 to 6.

For the purpose of selecting the pattern jacks by pressing the designing butts of these pattern jacks inwardly, a jack selector cam I53 is provided pivoted on a vertical rod 151 and adapted to oscillate thereon. By making this Jack selector cam movable Vertically and providing designing butts on the pattern jacks at different face of the pattern selector cam I50 or by providing pattern jacks with designing butts which cover more than one level. Of course, the pattern jack which has designing butts at more than one level need not have the two butts at adjacent levels--they can be spaced apart if the pattern requires it.

By means of mechanism which will now be described this jack selector cam can be moved up and down through practically any desired sequence. This mechanism consists of lever means operated by a segmental cut pattern wheel 130. The Jack selector cam I50 is mounted on the rod 15f by means of a sleeve I52. The rod I5l is fastened at the top to the bedplate D and the lower end slides freely in a hole on an angle plate on the cylinder raising tube 280. This sliding support is necessary in view of the fact that the cylinder raising tube is movable vertically with relation to the bedplate D.

The sleeve I52 is operated by a vertically adjustable driving link I53 pivotally connected to a lever I54 whose other end carries a cam tooth engaging against the circumference of the pattern wheel I80. This lever is pivoted on the main jack selector cam to be moved directly from one position to another in accordance with the height of the successive segments of the pattern wheel. By means of the threaded connection between the parts of the adjustable driving link the selector cam is swung into and out of engagement with the pattern jack butts I39 without disturbing the v lever I54. Furthermore the level of the selector cam with relation to the .whole range of the butt levels can be changed by detaching the upper part of the driving link from the sleeve and giving it one or two turns. In this way the cam can be set to press two butt levels instead of one. For turning the pattern wheel any suitable means can be employed but I have shown it. operated by the pattern control means of the above mentioned patent of Robert W. .Scott and Albert E. Page No. 1,713.353, dated May 14, 1929. With this construction the pattern wheel is mounted fast on a striping shaft I9 to which is also fastened ratchet wheel 2| operated by a racking pawl 23. The racking pawl 23 is swiveled at its other end to a lever 24 pivoted on the frame of the machine. This lever 24 and racking pawl 23 are reciprocated continuously by an oval shaped cam 25 located on the main drive shaft of the knitting machine. The oval shaped cam 25 and the teeth on the ratchet wheel 2i are so cut that at each reciprocation'of the racking pawl the striping drum is advanced the length of one tooth on the ratchet wheel.

In order to stop the rotation of the pattern wheel when the machine is knitting parts of the stocking where float stitchor reversal of the plating is not desired, an idling lever 530 is mounted on the striping shaft I9. The foot of this lever overlies the main pattern drum up and is adapted to be lifted by the cam 50!. Projecting upward fromthis lever to a point just below the racking pawl 23 is an adjusting arm 53L when the idling lever 530 rides up onto cam 5M this arm 53! is adapted to lift the racking pawl to a position where'it will not engage any of the teeth on the ratchet wheel. The cam 5M is so positioned on the main pattern drum that its idling begins as the needle cylinder begins reciprocation at the heel. At the end of the heel the racking pawl 23 is lowered to continue the interrupted pattern by moving the pattern wheel from where it left off, with the result that the pattern is unbroken on the instep of the stocking in spite of the insertion of the heel on the back. It will be noted in Fig. 1 that one of the teeth on the ratchet wheel is lower than the others. The difference in height of this tooth is made use of when coming to the end of the foot. When the end of the patternof the foot is reached, the idling lever 530 rides up onto a cam 502 on the circumference of the main pattern drum I20, but this cam 502 is not as high as cam 5M and causes the arm 53l to. lift the racking pawl to such a height that it will continue advancing the ratchet wheel 2| until it comes to the low tooth over which it idles until it is again desired to make pattern. This insures the pattern always starting at the beginning when starting a new stocking.

The idling lever 530 can also be employed to lengthen the pattern by intermittently stopping the rotation of the ratchet wheel 2|, as described in the above mentioned patent of Robert W. Scott and Albert E. Page.

The difference in height between one segment on the pattern wheel and the next highest segment in the wheel can, of course, be made equal to the difference between two neighboring levels of designing butts on the pattern jacks, and it is so shown in the drawings where there are 13 heights of segments in the pattern wheel and a similar number of levels of designing butts on the pattern jacks. If desired, however, by dividing the range of travel of the jack selector cam into more steps than there, are levels of designing butts on the pattern jacks, it is possible to make the jack selector cam press inward either the designing butts at one level or the designing butts at two neighboring levels, every other segment on the pattern wheel being of a height which will position the jack selector cam opposite the designing butts at two levels. In this case it is merely necessary to insert a segment which is two steps higher than the previous one if itis desired to move straight from one butt level to the next one. This same effect can be produced with slight limitations when the number of heights of segments on the pattern wheel are equal to the number of levels of designing butts on the pattern jacks, by making the jack selector cam of'a height equal to the height of two or more designing butts on the jack cams.

Further variations in pattern are very easily obtained, by employing designing butts on the pattern jacks which cover two or more of the regular butt levels as heretofore mentioned and as shown in Fig. 1.

The constructions already described and referred to provide a device on which several characteristic changes of pattern can be made, covering in a very simple manner all the variations in pattern which are normally desired. In the first place, the pattern jacks can of course be changed to provide difi'erent designing butts to ive float or reverse plated stitches at any one or combination of courses provided the cycle over which the combination extends is not more than the number of levels of butts being employed. This changing of the designing butts on the pattern jacks in the present invention, primarily speaking, determines which groups of needles are to be manipulated at the same time. When the number of designing butt levels equals the number of steps into which the travel of the jack selector cam is divided, the series of butts at any one level must either be operated by itself or must be operated simultaneously with one of the adjoining series according to the height or level of the face of the jack selector cam.

The second point at which changes can be made in the pattern is in the height or level of the face of the jack selector cam. The face can be of such a height that it will press only the butts of one level, two levels, or more if desired. By changing the level of the face it can be made to press two levels at once, and by reducing the number of levels or increasing the number of heights the cam can be made to press one, or two levels simultaneously as desired. These changes have the characteristic of not afiecting the frequency with which the changes are made but of causing the changes to overlap or not as desired.

A third characteristic type of change can be made by varying the height or order of segments of the pattern wheel. This, of course, is the easiest way of varying the sequence of changes amongst a predetermined series of needle groups, i. e., those, determined by the designing butts on the pattern jacks. The shape of the circumference of the pattern wheel can be varied to cause the jack selector cam to change direction of movement at any time or -move over two levels at one step. The combining of the vertical oscillation of the jack selector cam with the revolving jack cylinder containing the pattern jacks is of special value in what might be termed out and back patterns, e. g., diamond shaped patterns. In the case of such patterns it is necessary to set up only half the pattern on the jack cylinder as the movement of the jack selector cam in the reverse direction will cause the production of the second half of the pattern. This is the type of pattern shown in the drawings. It may be noted further that the second half of such patterns can be unlike the first half in its sequence, though. the set-up in the drawings shows a regular progression of the jack selector cam from bottom to top and down again.

If it is desired to have a pattern which is not of the out and back character, the jack selector cam can be made to employ all but the last segment of the pattern wheel, in reaching the highest level of jack butts and the last segment can be used to drop off to the lowest or beginning position. This increased number of steps in the sequence of the pattern can be employed either in producing a longer sequence or in lengthening the period through which any desired steps in the sequence are continued. Of course the sequence of vertical movements of the jack selector cam need not begin at the lowest level nor cover all the levels. Steps of half the usual height can also be employed to-vary the number. of butt levels operated on at one time, as already mentioned. From this brief exposition of the possibilities of the segmental pattern .wheel in association with the vertically movable jack selector cam and the revolving jack cylinder it will be apparent that practically any desired patterns can be set up with the minimum number of operations.'

The number of courses over which the sequence of pattern determined by the pattern jacks, jack selector cam and pattern wheel is made, can be lengthened in regular or irregular manner by the intermittent idling of the pawl 23 caused by the mechanism described in the above mentioned patent of Robert W. Scott and Albert E. Page. By means of the mechanism described in that application the step from one sequence to the next can be delayed one, two, or three courses of the knitting in cycles of four courses of knitting.

It has already been mentioned that according to this invention mechanism is provided whereby the manipulation of the needles can be confined to the instep needles at any desired portion of the stocking. The selectionof the needles in the instep segments of the stocking is obtained by employing two types of long jacks. As already explained, the top of each long jack is stepped away from the stationary deflector cam I45 or I45 in order that the needles shall not be pressed outwardly until the long jack is raised. When this occurs the step I44 on the jack is above cam I45 or I45, and the pressing outward of the needle occurs in the general manner shown in Fig. 3. For the purpose of differentiating between the needles on the instep portion of the knitting and those on the rest of the circumference of the needle circle, the steps on the long jacks which are not in the instep portion are cut slightly lower than on the instep needle long jacks. The additional cut is not so great however but that the cam I45 or I45 can normally act on these needles as well as the instep needles. When it is desired to make a pattern on the instep needles the fabric tube I carrying the cam I45 or I45 is raised slightly as shown in Figs. 3 and 4. When the long jacks are now raised the selected instep long jacks will be pressed outwardly, as

shown in Fig. 3, but the cam I45 or I45 will be above the steps in the selected long jacks in the remainder of the circle of needles and not operate them, as shown in Fig. 4.

The mechanism for raising the fabric tube to this position is very simple, consisting merely of a bell crank lever I56 whose lower arm underlies the bottom of the fabric tube I00 and whose upper arm is adapted to be swung by a fixed cam 151 on a thrust bar 460, the thrust bar 460 being operated by a suitably positioned cam 503 on the main pattern drum I20 as usual.

This invention also includes effective means of throwing this needle control mechanism into and out of operation as the different portions of the stocking are knit. This feature of the invention consists essentially of swinging the jack selector cam away from operative relation with the designing butts of the pattern jacks by means of mechanism operated from a cam on the main pattern drum. As heretofore eYplained, the jack selector cam is mounted on the rod I5I by means of a sleeve I52. Projecting from the lower end of this sleeve I52 is a horizontal arm 158 engaging against a vertical pin I59 mounted in the end of a lever I60. This lever is horizontally pivoted on a stationary bracket. I64 on the pattern drum shaft I6. The lever I60 has fastened horizontally therethrough an adjusting screw I6I adapted to engage against a cam I62 projecting horizontally from the end of the main pattern drum I20. By this means the jack selector cam is kept in operative position while the adjusting screw I6I is on the cam 162. There is a tension spring I63 stretched between the lever I60 and the driving rod I53 which turns the sleeve I52 on the rod I5I as soon as the pin I6I rides off the cam I62 thus swinging the jack selector cam I50 out of operative position. As mentioned before, the threadedconnection between the two parts of the adjustable driving link I53 permits the jack selector cam to swing into and out of engagement with the jack butts without disturbing the lever 154. The upper part of the driving link 153 is fastened to the sleeve I50 by a small removable vpin.

In order that the vertical reciprocation'of the jack selector cam may not interfere with the vertical pin I59 transmitting to the arm I58 the indications of the cam on the end of the main pattern drum I20, the pin I59 extends above the arm 158 some little distance.

The mechanism operates in the manner which will now be described. Assuming that the machine is making a stocking in which it is desired to produce a pattern in the'leg and instep of the stocking, the machine knits the welt and the portion of the leg in the usual fashion down to where the reverse plating pattern is to begin. Through this period the adjustable pin IN is oil the cam on'the end of the main pattern drum I and the spring I63 between the lever I60 and the vertical link I53 is therefore holding the jack selector cam away from the designing butts of the pattern jacks on the jack cylinder. The idling lever 530 is on the low cam .502 with the result that the racking pawl 23 is idling over-the low tooth on the ratchet wheel 2I, and the jack selector cam is motionless. When it is time to begin the pattern the main pattern drum I20 is racked forward and the pin I6I rides up onto the cam on the end of the pattern drum. This turns the arm I50 01' the sleeve I52 pushing the jack selector cam against the designing butts I38 of the pattern jacks I36. The racking of the main pattern drum simultaneously drops the idling lever 530 down onto the surface of the main pattern drum I20 and the pattern wheel I30 starts turnrackingpawl racks the pattern wheel forward one segment for every revolution of the needle cylinder, and each segment of the wheel is one step higher than the previous one. In this way the vertical elevation of the jack selector cam is changed every revolution of the jack cylinder in regular progression. It should be noted that the jack selector cam stays in operative position throughout the making of the pattern.

The face of the jack selector cam presses inwardly the lower ends of the pattern jacks whose designing butts come in its path, the heel of the radially depressed pattern jacks thereby standing inwardly of the bottom of the jack cylinder in the path of the stationary cam Ill. The needles and jacks in Fig. 5 are shown at three levels taken on Fig. 2 in order to make the operation clearer. The part a is a section on the level H of Fig. 2 which is the fourth butt level from the bottom. The butts which are at this level according to the pattern set up in Fig. 1 are shown in solid black while the butts at the two lower levels are shown in plain white. When these inwardly pressed jacks come to the cam III they are pushed upwardly to the dotted position shown in Fig. 2, and simultaneously the long jacks attached to these particular pattern jacks are elevated. This raising of the long jacks brings the shoulders which form their steps opposite the cam HS-and as these raised long jacks approach the knocking over point (they are shown in solid black in part b of Fig. 5) they are pressed outwardly andin turn propel the horizontal deflectors outwardly. The needles on which reverse plating is not desired are thus pressed outwardly from their normal position.

The needles are then drawn down to the knitting point and the stitches formed as shown in Fig. 6. The long jacks thereafter ride oif the cam I45 and allow the spring bands 263 to pull the needles back into line again while the long jacks and pattern jacks come into engagement with the cams I42 and I43 which return them to their normal position. In the case of a float stitch pattern the needles on which float stitches are desired are pressed radially outward from their normal position by the outward movement of the horizontal deflectors. Thereafter the long jacks ride off the cam I45 and allow the spring bands 263 to snap the needles back into line again in time to allow all the needles to receive the yarn 1/ which is not to be floated. The needles are then drawn down to the knitting point and stitches formed as usual, while the long jacks and pattern jacks travel around into engagement with the cams I42 and I43 which re turn them to their normal position.

The two cams I42 and I43 act practically simultaneously as will appear from a glance at part c of the showing of the needles and jacks in Fig. 5. The lowering cam I42 engages the lowering butt I38 of the pattern jack and pushes that jack down thereby also lowering the long jack to normal position. The tapered cam I43 presses the lower ends of the pattern jacks outwardly until the designing butts I39 are in normal position, ready to be operated on again whenever the jack selector cam is at the level of that butt. At the completion of each revolution of the jack cylinder, the pattern wheel I30 is racked forward another segment and according to the pattern shown in Fig. 1, the jack selector cam rises to the next level and operates on butts at that level. The steps I44 of the long jacks connected to pattern jacks whose butts are at thelevel which the jack selector cam has just left then pass under the deflector cam I45, as shown in Fig. 2. l

When the stocking has knitted the heel with suspension of the pattern as above described, the cam 503 on the main pattern drum I20 lifts the thrust rod 460 to an elevation which causes the cam 151 on that thrust rod to tip the bell crank lever I56 and raise the fabric tube I until the deflector cam I45 is at the level shown in Figs. 3 and 4. As already explained, the long jacks on the instep section of the circle of needles have steps I44 which are not cut as low as the steps of the long jacks on the remainder of the circle of needles. The selected long jacks on the instep section are therefore acted upon by the deflector cam I45 as shown in Fig. 3, but the steps of the long jacks in the remainder of the circle of needles are not high enough to engage the cam I45 and the needles are not deflected-as shown in Fig. 4. The stopping of the pattern at the toe will be obvious from the description which has already been given. If desired, of course, the yarns can be fed from a position slightly nearer the needle circle when reverse plating is not being made. The making of float stitch patterns by the mechanism in Figs. 7 to 11 is so similar as not to require further explanation.

It should be noted that by having a single radially stationary cam it is thus possible to differentiate between one portion of the circle of needles and another and at the same time ohtain absolute uniformity in the deflection of the long jacks.

Another very practical advantage of. the construction is the location of the horizontal deflectors on one uniform level comparatively near the top of the needles. all at one level and insuring that the deflectors are all given equal strokes, absolute uniformity in movement of the heads of the needles is obtained. If the deflectors were not all at the same level, the movement of the heads of the needles would not be uniform and if the deflectors were not comparatively near the heads of the needles at the moment when the needles are being pressed out, any minute variation in the stroke of the deflectors would be magnified many times in the movement of the heads of the needles. The necessity for regularity in the radial movement of the needles will be obvious.

Many variations from the apparatus shown in the drawings will occur to those skilled in the art without departing from the scope of my invention.

What I claim is:

1. A circular knitting machine having a re-v volving needle cylinder, a circle of needles therein, horizontal deflectors therefor, all mounted at the same level, each adapted to press its needle radially outward, long jacks associated with said deflectors and pattern jacks having butts at different levels adapted to lift and lower the long jacks, a jack selector cam adapted to select pattern jacks according to the levels of their butts, in combination with a radially stationary cam between the throatpiate and the knocking over point adapted to cause the deflectors whose pattern jacks and long jacks have thus been selected to push their needles radially outward until the inside of the shanks of said needles lie just inside the insides of the points of the other needles.

2. A circular knitting machine having a revolving needle cylinder, a circle of needles therein, horizontal deflectors therefor, all mounted at the same level, each adapted to press its needle radially outward, long jacks associated-.vgith said deflectors and pattern jacks having butts at different levels adapted to lift and lower the long jacks, a jack selector cam adapted to select pattern jacks according to the levels of their butts, in combination with a radially stationary cam between the throatplate and the knocking over point adapted to cause the deflectors whose pattern jacks and long jacks have thus been selected to push their needles radially outward until the inside of the shanks of said needles lie just inside the insides of the points of the other needles,

and stationary cams adapted to manipulate the .cam means adapted to move selected ones of the said members transversely, the said members having butts normally below the level of the said cam means, and means adapted selectively to raise the butts of the said members to a position for engagement with the cam means so that by relative movements between the said members and said cam means, the latter will impart transverse movements to the said members, 'whereby .the selected members will be diflerentiated from the others not selected.

4. A method of effecting, in an independent needle knitting machine, reverse plating at some By having these deflectors wales in some of the courses and plain plating at wales adjacent to the reverse plated wales, such method comprising moving members transversely withrespect to their companion needles so as 'to cooperate therewith in changing the plating relation of the threads at some of the wales, and preliminary to such transverse movement, by movements of some of the members longitudinally with respect to their companion needles, causing some of the said members to be in position for such transverse movement and causing others of the said members not to be in position for such transverse movement.

5. A circular knitting machine having a re volving needle cylinder, a circle of knitting elements therein, and a series of jack means each permanently associated with a knitting element,

said series of jack means having butts at different levels, in combination with a jack selector cam adapted to press the butts radially to the needle cylinder, and pattern means adapted to move said selector cam directly from one butt level to another for actuation of the butts at the different levels.

6. A circular knitting machine having a revolving needle cylinder, a circle of independent needles therein and a series of jack means each permanently associated with a needle, said series of jack means having butts at different levels, in

combination with a; jack selector cam for said butts having direct movements from one position to another in the range of butt levels and circumferentially stationary operating cam means adapted to press the desired needles radially out of line. I

7, A circular knitting machine having a revolving needle cylinder, a circle of independent needles therein, a series ofja'ck means each permanently associated with aneedle, said series of jack means having butts at different levels, in combination with a jack selector cam adapted to press the butts inwardly, pattern means adapted to move said selector cam directly-fromone butt level to another within the" range of butt levels and cams adapted to transmit to the needles the selections made by said selector cam.

8. A circular knitting machine having a revolving needle cylinder, a circle of independent needles therein, and a series of jack means each permanently associated with one needle and having butts at difierent levels, in combination with a vertically movable jack selector earn, a pattern wheel adapted to oscillate said cam from one butt level to another, and a single radially stationary cam adapted to press radially outward all the needles whose jack means have been acted upon by the selector cam.

9. A circular knitting machine having a revolving needle cylinder, a circle of independent needles therein, horizontal deflectors therefor all operating cam, substantially as described.

10. A circular knitting machine having a revolving needle cylinder, a circle of independent needles therein, long jacks ofl'set at their upper ends associated with the needles and pattern jacks adapted to lift and lower said long jacks independently of each other, in combination with a deflector cam cooperating with the ofi'sets in the jacks and adapted to press said long jacks outward when the latter are raised by said pattern jacks.

11. A circular knitting machine having a revolving needle cylinder, a circle of independent needles therein, stepped long jacks associated with the needles, the steps of some long jacks being cut lower than others, and pattern jacks adapted to lift and lower said long jacks independently of each other, in combination with a deflector cam adapted to press outwardly such long jacks as are raised by said pattern jacks, and means adapted to raise said deflector cam to a level where it presses outwardly only such raised pattern jacks as have the higher cut steps.

12. A circular knitting machine having a pattern drum, a revolving needle cylinder and a circle of independent needles therein, a series of jack means each permanently associated with a needle, said series having butts at different levels, and a jack selector cam, in combination with a pattern wheel adapted to move said selector cam vertically to bring it opposite different butt levels, and means operated from the pattern drum adapted to move said cam radially into and out of engagement with the butts of said jack means.

13. he circular knitting machine a revolving needle cylinder, a circle of independent needles therein, a series of jack means each associated with one needle, said series having butts at different levels, in combination with a vertically movable jack selector cam and a pattern wheel adapted to oscillate said cam within the range of butt levels, the level of the jack selector cam being adjustable relatively to the whole range of butt levels, for the purpose described.

14. A circular knitting machine having a revolving needle cylinder, a circle of knitting ele-- ments therein, and a series of jack means each permanently associated with a knitting element, said series of jack means having butts at different levels, in combination with a jack selector cam adapted to press the butts inwardly, and pattern means adapted to move said selector cam directly from one operative position to another for actuation of the butts at the different levels, racking means for said pattern means and idling means for said racking means.

15. A circular knitting machine including a needle cylinder, needles slidable in said cylinder,

yarn feeding means, pressers associated with at least certain of said needles, needle flexing means a for moving pressers radially at one point to actuate the needle flexing means to flex needles after the pressers are located in one of a plurality of alternative axially differentiated positions, and pattern mechanism for selectively so positioning the pressers at a prior point.

16. A circular knitting machine including a needle cylinder, needles slidable in said cylinder, yarn feeding means, pressers associated with at least certain of said needles, needle flexing means for moving pressers radially at one point to actuate the needle flexing means to flex needles at the yarn feed point after the pressers are located in one of a plurality of alternative axially differentiated positions, and pattern mechanism for selectively so positioning the pressers prior to the yarn feed point.

17. A circular knitting machine including a needle cylinder, needles slid-able in said cylinder,

yarn feeding means, slidable elements individually associated with at least certain of said needles, and movable into alternative axially difierentiated positions, means adjacent the yarn feeding position mechanically cooperating with the elements to eflect the production of various characters of stitches depending upon the position of the elements, and means for so selectively alternatively positioning the elements at a point prior to the yarn feeding position to determine what will occur thereat.

18. A circular knitting machine including a needle cylinder, needles slidable in said cylinder,

yarn feeding means, slidable elements individually associated with at least certain of said needles,

and movable into alternative axially differentiated ing upon the position of the elements, and means for so selectively alternatively positioning the elements at a point prior to the yarn feeding position 10 to determine what will occur thereat.

IVAN w. GROTHEY. 

